1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a closing assembly for a chamber having a through-opening, which closing assembly includes a closing plate displaceable perpendicular to an axis of the through-opening between an open position in which the through-opening remains open, and a closed position in which the closing plate sealingly closes the through-opening, a drive for displacing the closing plate between the open and closed positions of the closing plate, and a housing-like member in which the closing plate is displaceable, with the housing-like member having two flange-surfaces one of which surrounds the through-opening of the chamber, and with the housing-like member having a plurality of through-bores for receiving attachment screws for securing the closing assembly to a housing in which the through-opening is formed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to use vacuum chambers for handling, storing and/or for passing objects there-through, and it is known to provide such vacuum chambers with a closing member having a seal and a sealing surface. The sealing surface is located in the chamber and is arranged sidewise of the opening and forms, together with the seal, a structural component. The linear sealing surface extends parallel to the axis of the through-opening and has at least two sealing surface portions which are laterally offset relative to each other in the direction of the through-opening axis. A displaceable closing plate has a shape permitting a sealing closure of the chamber by being displaced linearly in a simple way. The closing plate and its displacement drive form a separate structural component. Such a closing assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,717. The mounting of the closing member and of the closing plate should meet extremely high requirements as the two, separately produced and separately mounted structural components should be located in the chamber in a precisely determined relationship relative to each other to insure a sealing closure of the through-opening in the closing position of the closing plate to prevent any loss of vacuum in the chamber. In addition to the through-opening for bringing work pieces into the chamber, the chamber is provided with another opening through which the closing plate projects into the interior of the chamber, with the displacement drive being located outside of the chamber. The two mentioned here structural components which, as discussed above, are separately mounted, are located in a region of the chamber in which two walls of the chamber, which are associated, respectively, with the two above-discussed structural components, extend at a right angle to each other and abut each other, forming at the butt location a common edge.
An object of the present invention is to provide a closing assembly formed as a unitary structural component insertable into the chamber.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a unitary closing assembly which would insure its simple and easy mounting.